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OK, so WHY have we got a demonstrably shorter side?

And then what are the IMPLICATIONS? Does it automatically make us uncompetitive to be 1.5-2cm shorter than the AFL average?

Firstly, the WHY:

Some possible reasons (alone or in combination) in no special order:

• incompetent list management/drafting
• deliberate tactic - going for smaller, skilful players as a point of difference
• pure coincidence as a result of choosing "best available"
• circumstances - disproportionate and partly unplanned loss talls in recent years (Lake, Jones, Williams, Austin, Hudson, T.Hill, Hall, etc - we even had Barlow, Mulligan and Prato on our list in 2011!)

I'm inclined to think it's a combination of (a) deliberate list management approach, perhaps under strong pressures from the B McCartney blueprint, (b) a short-term drive in 2014 to address the serious deficiency in speed and skills, (c) unfortunate circumstances in losing Lake, Williams and Jones while having to shed players who retired (Hall, Hudson) or simply weren't up to it (e.g. Austin, Barlow, T.Hill, Mulligan, Prato). All 10 of these have left since the end of 2011 and we have not replaced them with equal numbers of players with similar physiques.

So, what are the IMPLICATIONS?  One line of argument is:

• small stock of 192+cm players to choose from, meaning ...
• very little depth in talls (e.g. if injured or out of form), meaning ...
• more chance of being exposed for height, meaning...
• being forced to play a particular game style which is probably low percentage, meaning ...
• more chance of being exploited and less flexibility in tactical options if a game is going pear-shaped, meaning ...
• unlikely to win >50% of our games, even assuming we have equal skills and experience (which is generally NOT the case), meaning ...
• no finals in 2015 and probably not 2016 either.

It's not only about classical "talls" though.  In fact I think it's more about midfields - the difference between having equally skilled midfields but one side being consistently 2-4 cm taller (and probably heavier) in the midfield.  This was where BMac and JMac were obviously heading in getting players like Macrae, Stringer, Bontempelli, Stevens, Crameri and even Jong.  It just needed a few more years for the changes to work through the list. 

IMO being a short side isn't an automatic condemnation to the bottom four but it puts a LOT of faith in the following:

• Having very few injuries and suspensions for our first-line taller players (those over 188cm)
• An effective and well-executed game-plan that overcomes the midfield height disadvantage
• compensating skills, vision, stamina and speed in those who are at a height disadvantage.

There's obviously a lot more to it than that, but it would require a thesis of Dannnnnn-like proportions to go through it all, so let's just kick it off with the above.